The seminar was suggested by Sage Gateshead’sDave Camlin. It gave us the chance to reflect on our time working together on Northern Bridge so far, and “to explore some of the tensions and opportunities inherent in collaborative approaches to the generation of new knowledge.”

Newcastle University’s Professor Mike Rossington addresses the Northern Bridge Ecologies of Knowledge seminar. Image courtesy of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

Of course, there are tensions; when you bring together any group of academic institutions, or cultural organisations, there is competition – for students, for audiences, for funding. And although learning is at the heart of what both universities and cultural venues do, the processes through which we generate knowledge are quite different. We speak different languages. We have different drivers. Working in collaboration requires negotiating all of these factors.

Another tension which formed a focus of conversation during the day was the inequality of engagement with the arts. The Warwick Commission’s Enriching Britain, Culture, Creative and Growth Report states that “the wealthiest, better educated and least ethnically diverse 8% of the population forms the most culturally active segment of all”. How to reach those beyond that 8% is certainly a challenge.

But democratising culture and knowledge is becoming increasingly important in both the higher education and cultural sectors. The Research Excellence Framework emphasises the impact of research ‘beyond academia’; Arts Council England encourages the organisations they fund to reach more demographically diverse audiences.

Dave Camlin (Sage Gateshead) opens the seminar. Image courtesy of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

From my experience of working on the Vital North Partnership between Newcastle University and Seven Stories, collaboration holds exciting opportunities. Partnership helps to make our activities more interesting and diverse. At the intersections between universities, cultural organisations and communities, we can draw on our collective expertise to create new kinds of shared knowledge. And with increasing pressure on arts budgets, we can pool our resources and become more efficient.

I explored the Vital North Partnership’s unique ecology at the seminar, giving a Pecha Kucha presentation. It was also interesting to reflect on what role Northern Bridge, as a Doctoral Training Partnership, has as part of our shared ecology. I think the ways in which universities and arts organisations collaborate is changing. We are asking different questions, and having new conversations. I work at this boundary – and I’m interested to see where we’re headed next.

Dr Eve Forrest, ESRC IAA Officer and member of the VCSE Steering Group went along to the VCSE launch, here she tells us more about the event

Last week on a warm and sunny afternoon I popped along to the Courtyard restaurant on Newcastle campus. The room was full of new and existing external partners as well as some staff members who were there to hear more about the new University Innovation and Support programme, listen to presentations about previous and ongoing projects and to gather ideas as to how they could take part in the pilot scheme. The University wishes to strengthen links with local community groups and voluntary sector organisations and have teamed up with the folks at VONNE and Youth Focus North East to run a pilot programme over the summer. The scheme will partner up Newcastle researchers with different organisations that have identified an issue or idea they would like to explore in more detail and are looking to fund a number of projects up to the value of £3000 each. As the title suggests we hope that this will stimulate innovative ideas between external partners and the University, hopefully leading to larger collaborations in the future.

Professor Richard Davies, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Engagement and Internationalization opened up proceedings by welcoming attendees and highlighting the commitment from the University to supporting the scheme as part of a wide range of engagement activities. There was then a number of short presentations outlining some of the varied collaborations we have already done with VCSE organisations from academic secondments into Wallsend Action for Youth, to working with IBM on delivering the small business mentoring project CAPTURED.

Once the project presentations finished, discussions began and the room began to fill up with animated conversations. Attendees didn’t need any further encouragement to network and with huge enthusiasm shared their ideas with staff and other local organisations.

To help capture some of the discussions there were postcards on all the tables where attendees could write down any initial ideas with a view to perhaps working them up into a larger projects. These were gathered at the end for follow-up when the scheme opens. It was really inspiring to hear about the work of various small, medium and large organisations in the North-East and as a member of the VCSE Steering Group, I am looking forward to hearing about how some of these conversations will grow into concrete ideas and longer term partnerships.

The fund was launched on the 20th July 2017 and will be open until 20th September 2017. For more information on the scheme and our previous partnerships please visit the VCSE pages here.

Last month attendees gathered at the last of our ESRC IAA Capacity Building events this academic year to consider the different opportunities and challenges that researchers face when working with global partners. The event was in conjunction with Durham University however this was also our first collaboration with the EPSRC IAA as well, allowing for networking between staff across subject areas. The half day event with around 50 attendees began with a welcome from Professor Richard Davies, PVC for Engagement and Internationalization, who highlighted the collaborations between Newcastle and Durham Universities in terms of innovation and impact. There were other presentations from researchers that have had multiple international collaborations with different INGOS, companies and institutional partners. There was also slides presented on behalf of DFID (by Dr Elisa Lawson, Newcastle University) to set the scene in highlighting their expectations of what quality work should achieve, cost effectiveness and the impact it could potentially have.

Professor Richard Davies welcomes delegates

After lunch two parallel sessions explored different themes:

The challenges and benefits of working with global partners (facilitated by Verity McGivern, Help Age International) outlined the processes and structure of Help Age International, showing the challenges faced both internally and externally by the organisation and had an interactive element where participants had to decide how they would structure a particular proposal bid. The session gave an insight into the kinds of pressures and decision-making INGOs have in both giving immediate disaster relief help and for longer term projects.

Scenario to discuss in groups

Gaming the goals (facilitated by Dr Alison Vipond, Newcastle University Institute of Sustainability) was an interactive session aimed at raising awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and how they could be incorporated into research. The goals were printed on cards and individual group members were encouraged to discuss the titles that spoke to them on a personal and professional level, making the case for its importance to the rest of the group. The whole team then had to agree on one goal overall and then demonstrate how each of the goals interacted with the other. The session was relaxed and a fun way to understand more about the SDGs as well as their aims and objectives.

Group work on ‘gaming the goals’

In the final part of the day a panel discussion was held with three external partners:

The panel theme was ‘how can we use research to transform lives?’ and discussion began by pulling out the different questions around the main issues of research and how it can be used in practice by the panelists. Ideas surrounding power relations between organisations and how this must be balanced was highlighted by all the panelists including the issues of ‘co-designed’ or ‘co-governance’. How can this work in practice? Especially when researchers sometimes go to external organisations just to get the ‘stamp of approval’ rather than wanting genuine partnership. Panelists noted they would much rather have more meaningful long term relationships and would like to feed in to the process from the beginning. It was agreed that that these discussions start organically and networks and connections grow from there so it is worth spending the time building these. The measurement issue was also raised including how specific quantitative/qualitative measures can be problematic. Questions were free flowing and included responses from the audience regarding the tensions of GCRF funding and how organisations and their external partners can change the narrative of aid always being about dependency. Lucy Kendall believed that more NGO and INGOs should ‘shout louder’ to try and change the dominant stories in the press however there is also role for Universities and research to do this too, another way that research can transform discussion in the longer term.

Closing comments were by Dr Daithí Mac Síthigh, Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences who reflected on the different themes and provocations to emerge from the day, including the importance of relationship building for the long term to help overcome challenges and for researchers to address the practicalities of global partnership with clear goals and strategies in mind. It is hoped that this event will be the first of others around this theme; the IAA capacity building will resume in September 2017. For more information on the ESRC IAA click here.

Here Daniel Mallo, Abigail Schoneboom and Armelle Tardiveau tell us about the ongoing work on their recent ESRC IAA funded project based in Scotswood Natural Community Garden.

Scotswood Natural Community Garden (SNCG), an independent charity, is located in Newcastle upon Tyne in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest 10% for income, health, employment, education and training deprivation in the UK. SNCG is the only natural green space in the area and one of very few organisations in the North East offering nature-based interventions for disadvantaged people. Established in 1995 and designed by the local community, the 2.5-acre garden includes wildflower meadows, forests, woodland, ponds and fruit and vegetable gardens. Last year over 5000 people participated in the garden’s activities or visited the garden.

This ESRC IAA funded project aims to engage garden users and stakeholders (volunteers, youth groups, staff, trustees, school staff and local people) in a participatory design and research process that explores the value of SCNG to its key users, working towards a shared vision for the future of the garden, developing a vision for a new facility that will expand the SCNG’s highly valued programme. The project team comprises architects Armelle Tardiveau and Daniel Mallo, sociologist/ethnographer Abigail Schoneboom, and research assistant Sophie Baldwin.

During May and June this year, SCNG’s volunteers, youth group members, staff and trustees have been busy exploring the meanings and value that attach to this wonderful community garden, nestled in one of Newcastle Upon Tyne’s most deprived neighbourhoods. With the goal of envisioning a new structure that will better serve users of this popular community resource, participants have explored the garden through sensory research and model-making, creating a richly textured portrait and a set of creative ideas that will inform the future development of the space.

In phase one, we worked with an inviting map created by research assistant Sophie, which highlights the garden’s spatial richness created by a diverse biodiversity and enchanting layout. Having marked our favourite spots on the map, we captured through pinhole camera photographs these special places in the garden. Pinhole photography requires a very simple camera but taking a single photo can take up to half an hour of exposure! For us, this was a wonderful way to immerse ourselves in the garden and spend quality time smelling, listening to, touching and noting down on a map our feelings about these treasured locations. Alongside the photos and notes, we collected objects (such as dandelion leaves, pieces of string from the den-building area, and a blue-green fragment of a bird’s egg) and made sketches and rubbings. Together, these create a rich interpretation of what the garden means to its users. Using the tool shed as a darkroom, we ended each workshop by developing the photos and watching the images reveal themselves.

The silvery, poetic photos created in these first workshops capture something magical about the garden, encouraging us to dream and imagine possibilities. This photograph was taken by a garden volunteer.

In phase two, we built models and framed aspects of the garden, thinking about ways to envisage a new facility with some of the values and sensory qualities we had highlighted in phase one. Working with scaled wooden blocks and a range of materials from felt to scouring pads to evoke atmosphere, we created models that explored possibilities such as opening the indoors into the outdoors or using the vertical space to create a viewing platform. During the modeling activity, we also worked in pairs to ‘frame’ and photograph aspects of the garden that might inform views from the new structure. We imagined being indoor and looking onto the reflective qualities of water or witnessing edibles growing and changing. We had a lot of fun (and a few challenges) carrying the heavy wood and hessian frame through the winding, narrow paths of the garden.

A tactile model shows the different textures of the garden

The garden is home to many great stories and memories, and much healing – the hum of the traffic on the nearby road, overlaid by birdsong and the rustling of the wind in the trees, is a welcome reminder of just how precious this place is. Themes that have emerged from our work together so far include the importance of building or growing something yourself, feeling protected and secure but out in the fresh air, and being connected to other people and the rhythms of nature. Also space overlaps and conflicts between the many groups of users enjoying the facility became apparent with its related ad-hoc but inventive approach to storage catering for all.

Our customised wheelbarrow holding the materials for the workshop

We have already displayed some of or initial findings and photos at SNCG. Our next step, over the coming weeks, is to materialise and enact some of the ideas with the input of the volunteers. These might be in the form of furniture or spatial adaptations that we will invite visitors to inhabit. This temporary and playful engagement, we hope, will move us further towards a design proposal for a new facility that grows out of the vibrant imaginations and experience of those who use it most and know it best.

Hundreds of thousands of people will picnic with their neighbours across the UK to mark the first anniversary of MP Jo Cox’s murder. The Great Get Together has sparked renewed interest in togetherness, reinforced by Cox’s declaration that:

We have more in common than that which divides us.

The event, on June 17 and 18, is happening at a time when families, communities and the nation have been left deeply divided by the EU referendum, the snap general election and uncertainty over the direction of Brexit negotiations. Today, more than ever, Britain needs to foster a new sense of togetherness.

People getting together with friends and neighbours to enjoy a shared meal or street party is not a new phenomenon. Street parties inspired by the non-profit Big Lunch enterprise have attracted at least 600,000 people a year since 2009. In 2012, 8.5m people took part in the Queen’s Big Jubilee Lunch.

Diverse gatherings allow people to share food and traditions with communities from different backgrounds. As the anniversary of Cox’s death falls in the month of Ramadan, many communities plan to hold a Lunar Lunch or Iftar – the shared feast which takes place to break the fast after sunset.

Reconnecting people

Cox was especially driven to highlight the damaging effects of loneliness. Her plans for a cross-party conversation have been posthumously realised through the work of the Jo Cox National Commission on Loneliness.

Loneliness is often caused not by a lack of friends or family but by how disconnected people feel from others around them. Homes in the UK are conventionally designed to emphasise individual private property. This “hyper-individualised” housing makes it difficult for people to get to know their neighbours, at a time when many more people live alone for much of their life, often lonely or isolated.

Street parties and festivals foster a spirit of togetherness, however fleeting, and this matters to community well-being. Shared meals also feature in collective, cooperative living arrangements, such as co-housing. This is a way of living which brings individuals and families together in groups to share common aims and activities while also enjoying their own personal space.

Co-housing communities typically have around 20 to 30 households and may be exclusively for older people or for mixed-age residents. Each household has its own self-contained home but shares in the management of the whole site and a shared “common house”. My own research suggests how co-housing arrangements can offer a pragmatic utopian solution to severed connections between people and the places in which they live and work. There are currently 20 established co-housing projects in the UK, plus another 12 under construction or with land identified. More than 70 nascent groups, of all ages, are currently seeking to develop a variety of schemes.

Key Themes from the Collaboraive Housing ESRC Seminar Series.

Deep bonds

Other on-going research I’m doing is exploring how self-organising groups form and how these communities cultivate deep and enduring relationships.

Jo Cox would have recognised the shared sense of purpose and mutual support among those putting on and attending the Great Get Togethers. She and her family chose to live in a co-housing-inspired cooperative community of residential and recreational historic boats on the Thames, Hermitage Community Moorings (HCM). From the outset, the group’s intention was to create a close-knit community. The practical and emotional benefits of this are evident in the many ways that Cox’s grieving family have been supported by HCM over the past year.

In this way, socially connected communities can provide more effective neighbourly support than conventional streets of houses. They offer social benefits for members and society at large, such as increased well-being, shared know-how, and mutual care.

Sharing and togetherness are popular buzzwords, and care must be taken to weed out superficial cases of sharing in “counterfeit communities” – where yearning for connection can be manipulated for commercial gain. This is evident in commercial blocks of student bed-sits where “togetherness” is sold by access to a cinema, gym and high-speed wi-fi – rather than by shared responsibility for supporting each other.

If they are to thrive for the inclusive benefit of all members, self-organising communities need to nurture skills of mutual understanding that are neglected in competitive “do-it-yourself” societies. Yet, in the run-up to a weekend of community events, we are witnessing promising green shoots of “do-it-together” conviviality.

The best way to honour the hopeful ideals that Jo Cox and her family have come to represent must surely be to build a lasting legacy from The Great Get Together of more socially connected communities.